Sorcerer’s Handbook

“It seems like we still can’t smuggle ourselves into the Third Layer of the Virtual Realm,” Ashe sighed.

In fact, this was to be expected. If there were truly a simple and understandable way to smuggle oneself in, the sky over the Time Continent wouldn’t occasionally echo with the wails of sorcerers being attacked by knowledge creatures. Many sorcerers might know about the golden seven sorcerers and the White Bull Hypothesis, but these hypotheses are too difficult to realize. Left with no other choice, they can only fly straight into the sky, trying to grasp the elusive Rainbow Tail.

Golden sorcerers are the hardest to accept their fate.

They are more talented than silver sorcerers, and in the mundane world, they are generally top-tier managers, often having seen the boundless glory of Sanctuary sorcerers. The secular world considers them geniuses, and they think of themselves as geniuses too.

But the chasm between realms and sects is harder to cross than any other challenge. If your girlfriend doesn’t love you, you can use hypnosis and charm to win her back. If you’re shot in the head, a healing sorcerer can use hydrotherapy to reconstruct it. Even water that’s been spilled can flow back with time-reversal spells. But if you can’t understand high-level knowledge, then you just can’t understand it.

If the smartest people in the world haven’t found a smuggling route after hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of years, then the unlearned Mudborn Ashe naturally doesn’t have much hope for himself either.

“Tsk,” Sonya bit her nail, “If we could get to the Third Layer of the Virtual Realm, all our troubles would be solved.”

“Trouble’s here,” Ashe suddenly said. The sports car made a sharp 45° turn, accelerating diagonally upward.

Sonya immediately gripped her sword hilt and drew it slightly. Deya pulled out a Water-born Thread with both hands. The two of them dropped their playful demeanor and instantly entered combat mode.

On the virtual realm map in front of Ashe, the eastern region showed a group of raptors and some Thousand-feathered Drakes. Clearly, it was a mixed unit from the heroic soul legion.

Tonight, they had already arrived in the Spider Tower area.

Along the way, Ashe had hardly stopped to scavenge any resource points. Except for occasionally crushing a sorcerer projection to rest for a moment, most of the time he was driving, chasing the White Bull.

Their goal tonight was not to scavenge, not to grow stronger, but simply to survive. According to the pact with the Empress, they only needed to linger in the Spider Tower area for more than three hours to be able to leave the Virtual Realm. Thus, Ashe’s best strategy was naturally to keep driving and changing locations. Once the three hours were up, they could return to reality, preventing the Empress’s heroic soul legion from surrounding and annihilating them.

The naive thought that “the Empress’s heroic souls might not be able to lock onto their coordinates” never crossed Ashe’s mind. Ashe even suspected that the pact marks on his body might serve as natural trackers.

Steel machinery inevitably outperforms flesh and blood. With the sports car operating at peak performance, Ashe easily shook off the heroic soul legion from the east. However, before they could catch their breath, traces of the heroic soul legion appeared in the northeast.

Ashe pondered for a moment and decided to accelerate towards them. The heroic soul legion also immediately sped up, trying to block the road. With no other choice, Ashe continued at a 45° angle, speeding northwest.

But as Ashe tried to head directly north, the heroic soul legion once again attempted to block his path.

This time, however, Ashe finally sensed something was off.

“It’s a hunt!” Ashe slammed on the brakes, causing the sports car to carve a donut-shaped arc on the grass. “They’ve been herding us west… There must be an ambush waiting there. We’re going to charge straight through. Ready?”

“One!”

“One!”

After the operators’ urgent short responses, the sports car roared like a giant beast. Its front end sprouted wicked fangs, transforming into a war monster ready for battle!

The steel monster tore through the Rain Curtain. Ashe noticed that the northern troops were already armed, but there were still gaps on the sides. Just as they were about to crash headlong into each other, the sports car gracefully veered at a right angle. The rear end spewed a thick, green Toxic Mist, splattering all over the northern troops, before speeding off to smash through the fragile northeastern defense line!

The wind howled, the rain pounded, and the monsters on either side scattered in panic!

Boom!

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The slender and sinister Thousand-feathered Drakes transformed into Red Hat long rifle soldiers. They lowered their hats and raised their long rifles, aiming at the sports car and firing. Although their firing rate was much slower than in their original form, their accuracy was exceptionally high, and the damage was significant!

The “Refracting Wall” rippled, and the energy of the shield rapidly decreased, but it was all worth it. Sure enough, the heroic soul legion lying in ambush to the south and west immediately surged out. Ashe pushed the sports car to its limits, desperately charging towards the heroic soul legion blocking the northeast direction. Soon, they left their pursuers behind, leaving only a trail of lingering Toxic Mist.

As Ashe watched the heroic soul legion disappear one by one from the virtual realm map, he sighed with relief. “We should be safe tonight… right?”

At that moment, he noticed a special golden area occupying three full grids on the virtual realm map to the northeast.

The description of the special area read: “Everyone will die of old age, including you, so hurry up.”

“The Golden Flow…” Ashe muttered. “Could it be…”

From afar, the ground-shaking sound of marching thundered. Ashe looked down at the virtual realm map and saw the heroic soul legion emerging from all directions!

Many Swiftblast Dragons!

Many Dog-headed Dragons!

Many Blade Fish Dragons!

The outermost regions of the virtual realm map were painted a vivid, blood-red color. The only escape route was the golden area to the northeast, but that was the Golden Flow, which could reduce them to skeletons in mere seconds!

The sports car engine slowly came to a halt. The sorcerers sat on the grass, quietly awaiting the butcher’s arrival. The operators sensed what was happening. Deya stood on her seat, facing the rear, while Sonya gently placed a hand on Ashe’s shoulder.

“No apologies,” she said.

The real ambush direction was the northeast.

The heroic soul legion had deliberately driven them west, luring them into breaking out in the opposite direction, right into the trap the Empress’s heroic souls had set for them!

There was even the Golden Flow blocking the way, giving the Empress’s heroic souls more time to deploy their forces!

The timing: Ashe and his team had to stay for three hours.

The terrain: The Empress’s heroic souls were familiar with the surroundings.

The manpower: The Empress’s heroic souls had mobilized a large part of the heroic soul legion from the Spider Tower!

Ashe lost this time with such swiftness and decisiveness that there was no room for excuses or complaints.

At that moment, a familiar voice rang out amidst the golden rain.

“You are clever people,” Danzel’s words sent chills down their spines. “And I am best at dealing with clever people. All it takes is a few insignificant flaws, and a pretense of regret at having my schemes uncovered, to lull your cautious hearts into a deep, lion-like slumber.”

“This is the second time you’ve fallen for it, and it will be the last.”

“Still, since we know each other, I can offer you some courtesy. There is still a bit of time before the three hours are up. You can indulge in these final moments of your lives—love if you wish, entertain yourselves if you wish. That way, when you die, you might leave behind a decent Sorcerer’s Handbook.”

Their spirits wavered, their will faltered, and their fighting intent crumbled.

The Empress’s heroic soul’s seemingly compassionate words were filled with overwhelming killing intent. Even with them cornered, the Empress’s heroic soul seized every opportunity to strike at them, perhaps as revenge for the setback in the cabin, or maybe it was just her personal sadistic pleasure—Ashe leaned towards the latter.

In this tense moment, Sonya suddenly leaned close to Ashe, whispering in his ear, “You still haven’t answered me.”

“What?”

“What were you thinking earlier?”

Ashe’s attention was forcibly pulled from their dire situation. “Why are you so curious?”

Sonya blinked. “Because it’s been a long time since you’ve talked to me about your life in reality.”

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